Page 76 of Liberty

“What?” he asked. “Why?”

“She’s my woman’s best friend, that’s why,” I whispered back. “You fuck it up and I will then have issues.”

Fate paused as he watched Briget talking to Belle. “We’ll see.”

“No, you won’t see,” I snapped. “Lay off. You are here to watch out for us. Not to watch her.”

The little dog yapped loudly.

I looked around for the animal. “You wanna get cuddly? Befriend little Daisy.”

Fate scoffed and flipped me off as a knock sounded on the door. He made his way over and reached up to unhook the latch.

“Wait!” Briget called to him. “You can’t just open the door like that! Use the peephole and find out who it is first.”

Fate shook his head then peeped one eye to the little glass hole on the door. “Guy holding Pizza boxes, wearing a blue hat with a domino on it.”

“Ok.” Briget nodded.

Fate undid the latch then the chain and turned the heavy lock. Finally, he swung the door open. “It’s like being in fucking Fort Knoxx or something.”

“Hey, single women gotta be safe,” Briget said.

Fate took the Pizza from the man then dug into his pocket. “All I got is a fifty.” He handed it to the guy.

“I don’t carry change, mister,” the pizza guy replied.

“Don’t matter, just keep it.” Fate closed the door and turned around.

Briget stood there with her mouth popped open.

He halted when he saw her. “What?”

“You just tipped the guy what the meal cost.” She stared at him.

He shrugged as he handed her the boxes.

Taking them from him, she still looked shocked. “That's like 100 percent gratuity.”

Turning back to the door, he did up the three locks. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked. “I mean that's a good gratuity, right?”

Baffled, she slowly shook her head. “Someone needs to watch out for you.”

I laughed. “I’ve been saying that since he was six!”

“Yeah, ha-ha.” Fate snorted at me. “You are just sooo funny, aren’t ya?”

“Ok, boys. You need to get along now,” Belle said as she grinned at me and at him. “Bring the pizza over and let’s get this tea started.”

Briget and Fate came over.

We all sat down and got our slices.

“You need to start after Mr. Suit took you away.” Briget took a bite of her pizza.

“Well, that’s the thing,” Belle replied as she raised her pizza slice up. “Mr. Suit is Ophelia’s son.”

Briget coughed on her pizza.